Five Mayo Nations Schools nominated for short film awards

Anton McNulty

Five Mayo schools are among 19 other schools from around the country to have been nominated for short film awards at the 11th FÍS Film Festival.
Charlestown schools St Attracta’s NS and St Patrick’s NS as well as Ballina schools Behy NS and Kilocraun NS have been nominated alongside Scoil Raifteirí, Castlebar for an award at the upcoming FÍS Film Festival.
The five Mayo schools are amongst 19 other schools that have been chosen from over 100 entries received from all over the country. The event will be hosted by RTÉ’s Sinead Kennedy at the Helix, Dublin on Tuesday, November 3 with 24 awards to be handed out at prestigious event.
This is Behy National School’s third nomination in as many years at the FÍS Film Festival while Scoil Raifteirí has been nominated for the second time in three years. All five schools have been nominated for their short films which include: Scoil Raifteirí – ‘Bealch Glas’;        Kilocraun NS – ‘An Easter to Remember’; St Attracta’s NS – ‘Back in the Springtime’;        Behy NS – ‘Runway Circus’; St Patrick’s NS – ‘We Will Remember Them’.
The FÍS Film Festival is a Department of Education and Skills initiative, which will see over 800 people attend on the day including 700 primary school children from all over the country, their teachers, parents and a variety of special guests.
To enter the festival, primary schools across the country were asked to devise a five minute long film on a subject of their choice.
The film had to be produced by the children and their teachers and entries are judged on imagination and creativity, the originality of the story, excellence in set design, costume design, film direction and production as well as the use of sound, acting and cinematography. Those that use special techniques such as animation or special effects will be awarded extra points.

Categories
Awards will be made in a wide variety of categories including Comedy, Acting, Storytelling, Adaptation, Animation, Special Effects, Direction, Costume, Editing, Production, Cinematography, Sound, Public Safety, Best Newcomer, Best Junior Class Production and Historical Adaptation, among others.
Looking forward to the awards ceremony Patrick Cunnane, Principal at Behy NS in Ballina, said the project helps develop the young person in a positive way.
“Projects like FÍS engage children in new, exciting educational experiences that are great fun, that foster camaraderie, pride and self-esteem. The benefits of this tremendously enjoyable experience can be seen in a myriad of ways - in their academic development, their development as a young person and in the positive way in which they engage in all aspects of school life.” he said.